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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299753">Boba Tea</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendarypenofeating/pseuds/legendarypenofeating'>legendarypenofeating</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(you don't understand how happy typing his surname makes me), Alex Mercer-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Alive Alex Mercer &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gay Disaster Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), JATP Secret Santa, Julie and Reggie are only mentioned, M/M, Willie Loves Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), but i'm tagging them bc i love them, rated t for mild cursing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-11 01:14:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,921</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28299753</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendarypenofeating/pseuds/legendarypenofeating</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For a few seconds, staring at the tarmac under his hands, Alex completely zoned out; his attention only on the dark surface, dotted with salt-like white dots, its uneven surface and loose stones digging into his palms and fingers. Then, a voice behind him broke the moment, exclaiming, “Dude, you dinged my board!” and Alex brimmed with irritation.<br/>“I dinged your board?!” He started, shoving himself back onto his knees, and turning to the source of the voice. “Dude, you ran me over! You’re lucky I di…”<br/>There was definitely supposed to be more following that, but Alex suddenly found himself incapable of speaking. In fact, he also found himself incapable of forming any form of coherent thought other than <i>oh my god<i>, because, looking at the cute guy in front of him, <i>oh my god-</i><br/></i></i></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer &amp; Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer &amp; Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>150</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>jatpdaily secret santa 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Boba Tea</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/gifts">Pawprinter</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey Essie! I got you for the JATP Secret Santa, so I wrote you a Willex fanfic! This was supposed to be longer, but the rest ended up being too messy, so I rewrote the ending to make more sense. You said that Alex and Willie were both your favourite characters, and romantic dynamic, so I wrote this technically-a-Coffee-Shop-AU-but-also-not for you. Enjoy, and I hope you have a happy holidays!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>To say the least, Alex was </span>
  <em>
    <span>pissed.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span> It was 3:54p.m. His shift was supposed to end, and Luke’s was supposed to start, at 3:35p.m. The bus Alex took home every Saturday after work was due to leave at 4:10p.m. Alex was seven extra minutes at work away from murdering his best friend, if said best friend even showed up at this point. He would be worried about Luke at this point, were it not for the text earlier saying he’d be late.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex started drumming out a beat against the counter-top to distract himself, the coffee shop being almost empty, aside from a small group of students huddled around their laptops in the far corner. They were the last few from the mid-day/afternoon rush, and Alex, having already served them their drinks, knew they wouldn’t bother him while he waited for Luke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> He supposed he could leave if he really wanted to, provided Luke arrived not long after, but Alex would never do that. Trevor, their manager, put a lot of trust into his staff, and Alex couldn’t bear violating that by leaving the shop unattended. As chill as they seemed, he wouldn’t trust the students not to rob the place after he left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex checked his phone, for probably the fiftieth time, and scoffed. The time, 3:55p.m now, blinked back at him, along with a text from Luke.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>I’m not far out!! Sorry man! :((</b>
</p><p>
  <span> Sighing, Alex began to type out a response when Luke burst through the front door, red-faced and out of breath, startling the students in their huddle.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Dude, I am so sorry!” Luke gasped, clambering over the counter and collapsing on the ground beside Alex. “I read the time for my shift wrong, and then I forgot about it until Reggie, of all people, reminded me and then-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex cut him off. “Did you run all the way here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Luke nodded. “That’s what I was saying; I missed my bus so I was gonna take my bike, but then the front wheel was flat so I ran.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Okay, well, thank you for trying to get here on time but now </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>have to run to catch my-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “-your bus, I know!” Luke made a wild gesturing motion with his hands. “I’m here now, go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex pulled off his apron, tossing it to Luke, and grabbed his jacket from its hook. Shrugging it on, he made his way out, turning to Luke as he went. “I’ll see you at the gig later; don’t be too late!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Don’t be too early!” Luke yelled as Alex left the shop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex rolled his eyes, calling over his shoulder, “Drink some water!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Of course, it was probably his own fault for not watching where he was going. It was probably his own fault because he was usually very aware of his surroundings; Lord knows his anxiety made sure of that. But still, when something, or rather </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, collided with him, knocking him over, it definitely made him focus on his surroundings. He managed to throw his hands out as he fell, thus stopping his face from smashing into the ground, but he would definitely have to check for scrapes when he got home.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> For a few seconds, staring at the tarmac under his hands, Alex completely zoned out; his attention only on the dark surface, dotted with salt-like white dots, its uneven surface and loose stones digging into his palms and fingers. Then, a voice behind him broke the moment, exclaiming, “Dude, you dinged my board!” and Alex brimmed with irritation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I dinged your board?!” He started, shoving himself back onto his knees, and turning to the source of the voice. “Dude, you ran me over! You…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> There was definitely supposed to be more following that, but Alex suddenly found himself incapable of speaking. In fact, he also found himself incapable of forming any form of coherent thought other than </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh my god</span>
  </em>
  <span>, because, looking at the cute guy in front of him, </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh my god</span>
  </em>
  <span>-</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Cute Guy cringed, pulling off his helmet to reveal long, flowing, dark hair. “Right, sorry about that.” He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <span>Alex swallowed, trying to compose himself enough to say </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>, instead of just staring into Cute Guy’s twinkling, earthy-hued eyes. “Uhh, I- it’s, uh, it’s fine, I-” Alex cleared his throat, before making another attempt. “It’s my fault, I should’ve been, you know, watching where I was,” he cleared his throat again, “where I was going.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> He smiled awkwardly, and Cute Guy scanned him up and down. For a moment, the two stared at each other, neither breaking eye contact. Then Cute Guy smiled brightly, getting a more genuine one from Alex, and held out his hand to Alex. Alex blinked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Let me help you up,” Cute Guy said.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>Oh my </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>god</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex has no idea how he mustered up the courage to grab Cute Guy’s hand, but he must have because the next second he was being pulled up onto his feet, and he was now at eye level with Cute Guy. He was also standing much closer to him than was strictly necessary, so Alex took a few small steps back, dropping Cute Guy’s hand, much to his own dismay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “So, any reason why you weren’t watching where you were going?” Cute Guy asked cheerily, and Alex felt his face heat up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I was actually making sure that my friend took care of himself,” Alex said. “Didn’t think I should’ve applied that to myself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Cute Guy laughed, and Alex was convinced he might combust on the spot. “Well, I did pancake you, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex found himself also laughing, even though his hands were still stinging from hitting the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I’m Willie,” Cute Guy, or Willie, said, holding out his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I’m Alex.” He shook Willie’s hand, and felt his nerves settle slightly. “Sorry I got in your way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Willie waved his apology away. “Don’t worry about it, man. Pedestrians aren’t what I usually have to worry about; it’s a nice change of pace.” He held up his skateboard. “I skated into traffic last week and almost got killed by some asshole in a pick-up truck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex laughed, more out of shock than humour, but Willie responded with a mischievous grin nonetheless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Well,” he chuckled, “that’s a much cooler near-death experience than any I’ve had. My bandmates and I have done much stupider stuff and almost died.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Really?” Willie’s grin broadened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Yep.” Alex nodded, in mock-solemness. “The most recent being food poisoning from bad hot dogs. Our lead singer, Julie, told me not to eat them, but the other two were already eating, so I figured we’d be fine. I was obviously wrong.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “I’m gonna go ahead and guess, “ Willie laughed, “that the friend you were checking on when I ran you over is one of your bandmates then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Oh yeah, that’s Luke. Due to all kinds of chaos today, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>ran </span>
  </em>
  <span>to work today to take over from me so I wouldn’t miss my bus home.” Upon saying this, with a sinking feeling, Alex remembered why he’d been in a hurry earlier. Willie seemed to realise the same thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Shoot, dude, do you need to get your bus now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Uhhhh.” Alex pulled out his phone to check the time. 4:01p.m. He glanced back up at Willie, who was watching him in concern, and made a very fast and very dumb decision. “Nah, not yet. I've still got some time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Willie's grin returned full-force, leaving Alex to wonder if he had died and gone to heaven. “So you work at the</span>
  <em>
    <span> Mocha</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Man, I love your guys’ boba.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> He was referring to the coffee shop where Alex worked, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Santa Monica Mocha</span>
  </em>
  <span>, or the</span>
  <em>
    <span> Mocha</span>
  </em>
  <span>, as it was called by locals. It was very popular in the area, but still small enough not to constantly be packed with customers. Despite how busy it could sometimes get, Alex always felt a sense of comfort in the coffee shop. It was a simple enough coffeehouse, with an upstairs seating area. Cosy and rustic, the furniture was mainly composed of mismatched wooden chairs and stools downstairs, and thrifted couches and armchairs upstairs. Personally, he preferred upstairs, not only because the couches were comfier than the stools, but also because of the huge windows up there, out of which you could see a few blocks of city streets and, on a clear day, you could just about see the Santa Monica Pier. It was very common for Alex to take his breaks up there instead of the cramped staff backroom, if only to just look out the window, while letting the chatter of customers around him fade to white noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> The main reason for the shop’s popularity, Alex thought, was the fact that they served boba tea. A few of the other baristas knew how to make it by heart, differing flavours and all, so Trevor jumped on an opportunity and had the rest of the staff taught how to make boba tea. It quickly became their most popular drink, especially once they had started bringing in more flavours.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Yeah the boba’s pretty good,” Alex said. “I can just about get it right most of the time. My main skill, however, is being able to list off all the allergens in each of our drinks. It’s kinda my thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Knowing the drinks you serve?” Willie raised an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Nope. Worrying about allergies.” Alex grinned, earning a chuckle from Willie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Well,” Willie started, sounding hopeful, “if you don’t need to catch your bus anytime soon, I can show you another boba place, if you want?” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Was Willie asking him out? Or was he just being friendly? And if he was asking him out, did Alex really want to miss his bus to go on a date with a random guy on the street who had skated into him? Actually, Alex already knew the answer to that. But Alex didn’t even know if Willie was asking him out! What if Alex assumed that it was a date, but then found out that Willie didn’t think so and it got awkward? After all that, did Alex even want to have to walk home, and probably be late for the band’s gig? </span>
</p><p>
  <span> He pulled out his phone again. It was 4:07. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Screw it</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thought. “Sure!” he told Willie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Visibly brightening, Willie put his helmet back on. “Great! Maybe you can tell me those drink allergies on the way there,” he teased, hopping on his skateboard. “Keep up, hotdog!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Alex bristled, as Willie started to skate away, laughing. “That’s not funny; I almost died!” Smiling to himself, Alex began to jog after Willie. “Hey, wait up!”</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span> He missed his bus. Obviously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> But even though he missed it and had to walk home; even though he ended up being later than Luke to the gig, with Julie probably seconds away from killing him; even though Reggie and Luke wouldn’t let it go for weeks afterwards, and all of his bandmates teased him for it; Alex didn’t mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span> Because after their boba tea date, and Alex found out that it was <em>very much</em> a date, Willie had skated Alex home. They had exchanged numbers earlier, so with nothing else to say, Willie had planted a soft kiss on Alex’s cheek and skated off, sending a smile back over his shoulder. And in the end that made it all worth it to Alex.</span>
</p>
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